Fewer people earned over ₹100 cr in AY 2021

NEW DELHI: The number of people earning ₹100 crore or more has declined in assessment year (AY) 2020-21, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha in a written response that 136 individuals reported gross income of ₹100 crore or more in AY21, compared to 141 in the previous year.

Assessment year refers to the year in which the tax return is filed for the income earned in the year before. In AY19, 77 people reported this level of income.

This does not capture the loss of incomes in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2021 due

AY: Assessment year

Source: CBDT

to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That will get reflected in the returns to be filed in the current year.

While answering a question on the number of billionaires in the country and the poverty level, the finance minister explained that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) does not capture information about the wealth of a taxpayer, with the abolition of wealth tax from April 2016.

Access to bare necessities such as drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, and housing has, however, improved significantly from 2012 to 2018, with disproportionately higher improvement seen for the poorest households compared to the richest households across both rural and urban areas, she said, citing the Economic Survey 2020-21 prepared by her ministry.

India has around 270 million people living below the poverty line, according to an official estimate made in 2011-12. The Union finance minister said data showed that the cumulative net payroll addition to the Employees Provident Fund Organization subscriber base fell to 7.71 million in FY21.